Tidal Wave Footage Photos, 15th AAF and Luftwaffe, 'Black Sunday', 1 August 1943

On the back is a stamp "Mar 3 - 1941".
Under picture :
Description "This is an original press photo. Ploesti oil fields in Romania before an attack by the Royal Air Force in March 1941. ...Photo is dated 03-03-1941."
Actually is an oin refinerie and oil storage tanks, nothing more.
Those days were in peacetime.

agreed, thank you

Alex

Thanks for posting those pictures. The one with him wearing the sunglasses I have never seen. I really don't have too much info yet as He and my father haven't been very close since I was very young. I wrote to him asking some questions because as I got older I got very interested in military history and found out many interesting things about my other grandfather during his time in WW 2. So I decided to write and ask him some questions and he sent me the book he in some way helped write. I read it and wrote back with more specific questions and am going to remain in contact with him so any info or photos I can get I will share. And yes I meant he was a pow until the date he was released not the end of the war. But he didn't fly anymore missions. Ill have to ask why.

One thing I'm confused about is I thought he was a pow for at least a year. But if he was shot down 5-5-44 and freed 8-23-44 well that just doesn't add up. Hmm.

your grandad was POW from May 5th till Aug 28,44 that is
all...after 90 days plus spent in Rumania he returned to
Foggia and then back the US. Check a book called the
"The Fighting 451st " by Mike Hill

PS: you missunderstood what the other member said
Rumania capitulated on 8-23-44 though the POW's
were airlifted to Italy on Aug 28 through 31,44

Alex

This post has been edited by yugit on December 20, 2011 10:42 am

Hello,
The photo of Stinger was exciting to me as my father, Andrew Opsata, is the young man of 23 years, sitting in the pilot seat. He has not seen this photo before so I made a copy of it. He is now 92 and still tells and writes stories of those day. Thanks for posting it!

I have enjoyed the pictures from Operation Title Wave. I am building a 1/12 scale R/C plane named Nightmare. Building the plane, and the studying the information available, gives me a greater respect for the men that flew in that battle.

Interesting reports

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachmen...tle-ploesti.pdf
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachmen...ia-report-i.pdf
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachmen...a-report-ii.pdf

Jimops,can you show us some pictures of your R/C plane after you built it. I like to see pictures of your R/C plane.

Muggs,thank you for the reports. I think they are really interesting reports.

This post has been edited by warunasanjaya2727 on August 31, 2012 06:36 pm

TVR1 documentary about Tidal Wave, in romanian with english subs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl1jvBnRNDI

whoops wrong qoute
Duncan S.

This post has been edited by Duncan on November 29, 2012 03:24 pm

"Bommerang" was flying on the left wing of "Ball of Fire III" in the 2nd Wave of A Flight Left (93rd BG) Lead Element.

Behind him is either "Thundermug" or "Liberty Lad", both of which flew on the left wings of their respective waves. It would depend on which wave was high and which was low. But I'm pretty sure the image is of "Thundermug". Russel D. Longnecker was the pilot, and Odin C. Olson was the co-pilot.

This post has been edited by Duncan on November 29, 2012 03:47 pm

Again, answering another old post. Actually I think the 93rd was coming in from more of a South West direction and a slight N E heading. They would have had to been almost on top of Bucharest to be coming up from the direct south. My understanding is that Baker made the decision to turn at almost the halfway point to Bucharest which would have put the turn at 90 degrees.

Duncan S.

Hello, I'm looking to document the exact crash sites of American aircraft in Romania, beginning with the August 1, 1943 raid. Is there a specific archives in Romania that could help me gather information on the sites. Pictures, aerial images, and historical textual records would be most helpful. Thanks for your assistance!

Rob Rumsby

Hi! My name is Susan and my Great Uncle James Van Ness was a Technical Sergeant Gunner on Chug a Lug during the raid of Ploesti. He was killed in action on August 1st, 1943. I've been searching for as much info possible regarding that day. I'm also trying to find a picture of my Uncle but have been unsuccessful. Any help you could provide would be much appreciative. My email is voiceofangelz@gmail.com in case you need it. I'm new to this site. I was happy to find this discussion. Hoping I hear back from someone. God Bless and thank you!
Susan